After Dark Gin – Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra

Finding Light

With winter FINALLY over for good (our May Long Weekend dump of snow officially melted), and a beautiful concert right around the corner, it’s time to introduce our newest After Dark gin cocktail.

With summer weather underway, we wanted to highlight fresh bright ingredients like citrus and mint. Since this flavour profile gives a similar feeling to the music of our next concert, we decided to name it after our season finale, Finding Light.

Now let’s prepare for summer AND a divine concert with this delicious new cocktail featuring the SSO’s After Dark gin, partnered with Black Fox Farm & Distillery.

What You’ll Need

Glass
Ice
After Dark gin
Mint leaves
Lemon (for fresh juice and garnish)
Simple Syrup
Soda water

Ingredients & Measurements

Approx. 6 mint leaves
1oz simple syrup
1oz fresh lemon juice
1oz After Dark gin – or more 😉
Approx. 4oz club soda

Recipe

Add mint leaves to your glass
Add 1oz simple syrup
Add 1oz fresh lemon juice
Add 1oz After Dark gin
Muddle ingredients
Fill glass with ice
Top with soda
Stir
Garnish with lemon twist and mint sprig
Enjoy!

Notes

SIMPLE SYRUP – It has it’s name for a reason! There is no need to buy it from the store, just mix equal parts sugar and warm water (to help the sugar dissolve) and there you have simple syrup! Best stored in the fridge.

TIP FROM TOM: Muddling your ingredients releases the aroma of the mint and gives your cocktail an even more refreshing taste!

WATCH THE RECIPE! The videos below show this cocktail being made in real time. Choose the quick, straight-forward recipe video (left) or the full walkthrough with Tom Brown and Kateryna Khartova from the SSO (right).

BUY AFTER DARK GIN HERE!

The Bees Knees

As we continue to make new recipes showcasing our After Dark gin (partnered with Black Fox Farm & Distillery), we figured it’s time for something a bit stronger.

This month, we are featuring a heavier pour of our After Dark gin. This cocktail is meant to really bring out all the notes of this local liquor, showing just how well it stands on it’s own.

Containing only three ingredients (that you probably already have on hand), this gin cocktail is meant to be something you can whip up anytime.

Let’s get into our April gin cocktail, Bees Knees.

What You’ll Need

Martini or coupe glass
Ice
After Dark gin
Lemon (for fresh juice and garnish)
Honey

Ingredients & Measurements

2oz After Dark gin
3/4oz fresh lemon juice
1/2oz honey

Recipe

Fill shaker with ice
Add 2oz After Dark gin
Add 3/4oz fresh lemon juice
Add 1/2oz honey
Shake ingredients until shaker is chilled
Strain into your glass
Garnish with lemon twist
Enjoy!

Notes

VERSATILITY: Everyone’s palate is unique, and with that comes differing preferences on flavour. The sweetness and the acidity of this martini are 100% able to be curated to your taste. Add more or less honey to adjust your sweetness level, and more or less fresh lemon juice to adjust the acidity of the cocktail. After all, what is important is that the cocktail tastes pleasant to YOU.

TIP FROM TOM: The amount you shake this cocktail will decide how strong your beverage is. Give it a good, long shake to allow the ice to dilute the gin, softening the gin’s top notes and accentuating the base notes. A shorter shake will avoid dilution, preserving the more gentle top notes and resulting in a smoother cocktail.

WATCH THE RECIPE! The videos below show this cocktail being made in real time. Choose the quick, straight-forward recipe video (left) or the full walkthrough with the SSO’s Tom Brown and double-bass player Troy Morris (right).

BUY AFTER DARK GIN HERE!

A Romantic French 75

Last month, we made a refreshing cocktail at Black Fox Farm & Distillery with John Cote called the ‘After Dark Intermezzo’. Now to follow that, for this month’s After Dark gin cocktail, we wanted to come up with something that said February.

With our Valentine’s Day concert happening this month, what better cocktail to make than something that feels romantic? So we got together with Judith Yan (conductor of Everything is Romantic) and had the SSO’s Tom Brown pass the skills he learned from John Cote last month on to her.

Without further ado, let’s get into February’s gin recipe for a romantic twist on a classic French 75.

What You’ll Need

Champagne flute
Cheater tin and strainer
Bar spoon
Ice
After Dark gin
Hibiscus syrup (or substitute)
Lemon
Champagne of choice

Ingredients & Measurements

1oz After Dark gin
1/2oz hibiscus syrup (or substitute)
1/2oz fresh lemon juice
2-3oz champagne

Recipe

Fill cheater tin with ice
Add 1oz After Dark gin
Add 1/2oz hibiscus syrup
Add 1/2oz fresh lemon juice
Stir
Strain into champagne flute
Top with 2-3oz champagne
Garnish with lemon twist
Enjoy!

Notes

SYRUP SUBSTITUTIONS: A typical French 75 is made with simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water). For this Valentine’s Day themed French 75 though, we substituted the simple syrup for pink hibiscus. This way, we still get the sweetness from the syrup, but we also bring in another flavour (and it gives our drink the pink colour, making it feel more on-theme!). If you are wanting to stick with the pink theme but hibiscus isn’t your choice, strawberry and raspberry are also delicious options! Almost anything could work though.

TIP FROM TOM: Stirring the first three ingredients in a cheater tin instead of shaking them over ice gives the base of the cocktail a smoother texture and a less diluted taste.

WATCH THE RECIPE! The videos below show this cocktail being made in real time. Choose the quick, straight-forward recipe video (left) or the full walkthrough with Tom Brown from the SSO alongside conductor Judith Yan (right).

BUY AFTER DARK GIN HERE!

After Dark Intermezzo

The SSO’s recent partnership with Black Fox Farm & Distillery made for a wonderfully composed gin, After Dark.

Since there are so many delicious ways to drink this new Saskatoon local liquor, we thought we would begin a series of recipes where we share a new way to experience After Dark gin each month.

Without further ado, let’s get into our first recipe, the After Dark Intermezzo.

What You’ll Need

Collins glass
Ice
After Dark gin
Haskap shrub (or substitute)
Club soda
Lemon wedge

Ingredients & Measurements

1oz After Dark gin
1oz haskap shrub
Approx. 2oz club soda

Recipe

Fill glass with ice
Add 1oz After Dark gin
Add 1oz haskap shrub
Top with soda
Garnish with lemon wedge
Enjoy!

Notes

HASKAP SHRUB – WHAT IS IT? It is a refreshing, tangy, vinegar-based beverage made from a concentrated syrup of fruit, sugar, and vinegar. Here, John mixed 8 cups of frozen haskap, 2 cups of vinegar, and 2 cups of sugar, then let it sit in the fridge for a week before straining/pressing it into a sealed jar. This part of the recipe is very versatile and customizable to whatever you have at home. Any fruit can make a shrub, and it’s always fun to test out new flavour combinations to see how they compliment the gin!

TIP FROM JOHN: Don’t stir the cocktail. This makes the first sip less overwhelming and lets you ease into the flavour profile of the gin. When serving, you can substitute the lemon wedge garnish for an edible cocktail stirrer, such as a structural herb sprig or a candy. This gives guests the ability to stir the drink to their liking.

WATCH THE RECIPE! The videos below show this cocktail being made in real time. Choose the quick, straight-forward recipe video (left) or the full walkthrough with John Cote from Back Fox and Tom Brown from the SSO (right).

BUY AFTER DARK GIN HERE!

Finding Light

What You’ll Need

Ingredients & Measurements

Recipe

Notes

The Bees Knees

What You’ll Need

Ingredients & Measurements

Recipe

Notes

A Romantic French 75

What You’ll Need

Ingredients & Measurements

Recipe

Notes

After Dark Intermezzo

What You’ll Need

Ingredients & Measurements

Recipe

Notes

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